After a final witness, Bergrin rests his case in murder, racketeering trial

Defense lawyer Paul W. Bergrin rested his case on Monday after calling a jailed former client who testified that FBI agents asked him to lie in order to falsely inculpate Bergrin, who is on trial for murder, drug-dealing and racketeering.

Lemont Love, 32, told jurors that two FBI agents came to see him at a prison intake facility in Trenton and “tried to get me to give false testimony against Mr. Bergrin.”

The agents, who he could not name, offered him immunity in exchange for his testimony, he said. But he told them he refused to fabricate evidence against Bergrin, he said under questioning by Bergrin, who is representing himself.

On cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Gay effectively undercut Love’s allegations by playing a recording of a telephone conversation — monitored while Love was in custody — after Love told jurors he could not recall the conversation.

On the recording, Love told someone he called “little brother” that he had information that could “bury” Bergrin but he wasn’t going to reveal it because “I ain’t never been no [expletive] snitch.”

Before playing the recording, Gay also asked Love if he recalled saying that “if you could help Mr. Bergrin win his case, he could help you win your case” and that Bergrin “would owe his life to you.”

“No, I don’t recall,” Love replied.

After listening to the recording, Love accused the prosecutor of taking his words out of context. What he meant, he said, was that whatever story he made up about Bergrin could bury him.

“The truth is Mr. Bergrin is not guilty of the crimes you’re trying to pin on him,” said Love, who is serving time for drug, robbery and assault convictions.

Love was the last of 17 witnesses called to testify by Bergrin over four days. A former federal and Essex County assistant prosecutor, Bergrin, of Nutley, decided not to take the witness stand in his own defense and reluctantly rested his case after U.S. District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh refused to grant a continuance for up to eight days to allow time for two federal prisoners to be transported to Newark to testify.

Love’s testimony was preceded Monday by that of two Newark detectives. The first, Det. Antonio J. Badim, had only a vague recollection of an incident in which Bergrin and his family were allegedly threatened by the Latin Kings gang in 2004 because of a client he represented.

The second officer, Detective Sgt Joseph Conzentino, was asked about a 2008 “assault” on Bergrin by a reputed cocaine trafficker and former co-defendant, Alejandro Castro. Conzentino recalled only that he observed Bergrin in a “heated verbal altercation” with a Hispanic man who was his client and that Bergrin did not want any further police action.

During six weeks of testimony, a parade of government witnesses implicated Bergrin in crimes including cocaine trafficking, managing a New York City brothel, witness tampering, plotting to have a Latin Kings hit man kill witnesses, and the murder of an FBI informant.

Bergrin, a former federal prosecutor who has been in custody since his arrest in May 2009, has argued that he is being framed by lying cooperators who are seeking reduced sentences in exchange for their testimony.

During his cross-examination of Love, Gay asked if he had plans to kill a snitch to prevent him from testifying.

“Absolutely not,” Love replied.

The prosecutor also asked Love about emails or text messages indicating that he was going to knock out one woman’s teeth “if she was going to snitch on you,” or rape and kill another woman.

He said he didn’t remember such messages but if they did exist he was only joking around.

Granting a request that Bergrin be given a day to work on his final arguments, the judge directed jurors to return Wednesday morning for summations in the case.